Thread by @ZechariahSharab

🧵on Jews of Djerba جربة 🇹🇳

1) Djerba, an island off the coast of #Tunisia, is home to one of the oldest Jewish communities in the world, and the 2nd largest in the Arab world

Jews have lived on this island for over 2,500 years

2) Jews found refuge in Dejrba following the destruction of the First Temple in #Jerusalem

The high priest Tzadok (Kings I 2:35) along with his fellow Kohanim escaped to this distant Island and settled there. They carried stones from the altar as a memoir of the destruction

3) As such, this community is mostly made up of Kohanim. Genetic tests show the vast majority of the community share a common ancestor with Cohens from other communities across the world, both in MENA and Europe

Djerba is popularly know as "The Island of the Kohanim"

4) Following the Spanish Inquistion, Jews from the Iberian Peninsula again found refuge on this beautiful island

Throughout this time, the Jewish community always preserved their unique dress, personal names, and accents

5) The community had warm ties with their Muslim neighbors

Here is a picture of #Tunisian president Habib Bourguiba الحبيب بورقيبة visiting the Al Ghariba Synagogue in Djerba in 1966

6) The community established schools, synagogues, yeshivas, Kosher restaurants, and much more

You can still see the Hebrew Kosher signs to this day in multiple locations on the island

7) The most famous of sites is the ancient El Ghriba الغريبة Synagogue, a UNESCO World Heritage Site

This beautiful synagogue was built in 500 BCE! and has been preserved and embellished ever since

8) Remember the altar stone I mentioned before, which the Kohanim brought from the First Temple in #Jerusalem to Djerba?

It's in the El Ghriba Synagogue, right under the Torah ark. There is a long standing tradition to pray near it's location

9) Legend has it that a woman named El Ghriba lived alone on the land where the synagogue now stands. One day her house caught fire and she perished, but her body did not burn or rot. The Jews saw this as a miracle and built the synagogue there in her honor

10) Every year, thousands of Jews make a special pilgrimage to this site on Lag BaOmer. Lag BaOmer is a mystical holiday celebrated 33 days after Passover by lighting bonfires

Jews from all over the globe make this pilgrimage, with local Muslims joining the festivities

11) Given their unique ancestry, Djerban Jews have special Hebrew pronounciation and tunes, different from the rest of North African Jewry and even from that of mainland #Tunisia's Jews

Here is a reading of Megilath Esther

12) The community's unique pronounciation and tradition can be heard during public reading of the Torah

13) In #Israel the Djerban community established the town of Berechia בֶּרֶכְיָה in 1950 (appropriately named after the Kohanim dynasty at the time of the Prophet Nechemiah)

It's a challenge to visit friends in this town, as literally every family's surname is Cohen!

14) The Chief Rabbi of Dejrba, Rabbi Rahamim Hawita HaCohen, established several yeshivas in #Israel under the name Kiseh Rahamim כסא רחמים

The Chazon Ish, leader of the Ultra-Orthdox Ashkenazi community met him and concluded he was the sharpest Talmudic scholar he ever met!

15) Djerban Jews contributed significantly with philosophical and religious texts, music, and art

Popular #Israeli pop band Teapacks טיפקס was formed by Jews of Djerban ancestry and fuses their musical traditions and language